In the first dark hour of the new day, Mei woke in a flash. Something was wrong but she remained still and silently assessed the situation. She felt at least six ANBU in the hall just outside her bedroom door, which was open! No, not her bedroom door, Kakashi's. The spider, she remembered suddenly. Kakashi had invited her to sleep with him until her room was repaired. This was Kakashi's room. Her mind played catchup as she glanced around.
The light shone in from the hall, outlining the ANBU crowded there. They were in the doorway but did not cross the threshold, she noted. Kakashi was no longer in bed beside her. The blankets had been pulled almost completely over her head, covering her from chin to foot. She grasped the covers to keep them in place as she lifted her head to survey the dark room.
Kakashi was pulling his pants on. If the ANBU were embarrassed by their Hokage's lack of dress, none of them showed it. Kakashi calmly hunted down the rest of his clothes in the dark, listening to their report.
"We apologize for the disturbance," the captain of the ANBU said. "But there's a situation."
Mei reached over with one hand and switched on his lamp. Kakashi turned back to her with a grateful smile. He finished dressing swiftly in the light. Mei laid back down, blankets to her chin.
"There's been a mishap at the Seal Development Facility," the ANBU went on. "The building is floating roughly two hundred feet above the village streets. It does not appear to be an attack."
Mei willed her sleepy brain to work. The building was floating? How was that possible?
"Any staff in the building?" Kakashi asked without missing a beat.
"There should be a handful on the night shift, the seal engineers work around the clock, but beyond that we don't know."
"Alright, wake the manager for yesterday's duty roster, I want to know if anything they were working on could cause this. That could rule out an attack. In the meantime, evacuate the nearby neighborhoods, quietly, we don't want to cause a panic." Kakashi paused. "Why IS the seal research and development building located inside the village proper?"
The ANBU were silent. They had no idea and neither did Kakashi. Something to ask Tsunade about later.
"Is there any danger to the people inside the tower," Kakashi half glanced back at Mei. Despite his words of concern and the feelings that obviously drove them, Mei saw no tenderness in her husband's look. He had his battle-ready face on, this was not a drill.
"Not at this time Lord Hokage."
Mei spoke low, only to her husband. "I'll catch up in a minute."
Kakashi half nodded and the group of them teleported away, presumably to the roof. It's what Mei would have done. Hokage Tower was one of the tallest structures in the Leaf, so it was an excellent place to observe operations. It was also where people would come to report or ask questions. It was where the Hokage was expected to be available. Mei dressed quickly, methodically, and followed their route to the roof.
Naruto was already there, unusually discomposed. "I tried to have Kurama grab it but it just moved away!" Naruto finished his report in a rush. His agitation made Mei nervous and she wasn't the only one. Shikamaru was on the roof and only looked slightly less flustered. His ponytail was disheveled, like he'd tied it up on the way here. Naruto was practically dancing at Kakashi's side, looking from his teacher to the floating object in the sky.
It was hard to tell from the distance and the lack of light, but it appeared that the building, along with a perfect half circle of the earth under its foundation, was floating above the Leaf Village. Mei turned her eyes downward from the object in the sky to the vulnerable neighborhoods below. There were people down there sleeping in their beds, families, but not for long. Mei could already pick out, in the distance, the chunin and jonin assisting in the evacuation. Ninja darted here and there while civilians could be seen hurrying through the village streets to get clear. Since Naruto's interference, the evacuation zone had moved several blocks.
Mei heard Kakashi say, "you said you tried to have Kurama grab it and it floated away from him?"
"Yeah! Kurama, my clones, anything I tried to use to get close," Naruto repeated, calming a little at Kakashi's steady demeanor.
Kakashi turned to one of the ANBU, Mei thought she knew who but his back was to her. "Summon Shibi and Sai, hurry."
Kakashi turned back to Naruto, "can you shepherd it out of the village? To the southeast, for example? Toward the plains?"
Naruto turned back and looked. His blue eyes squinted at the object. "I think so, but then what?"
"One thing at a time," Kakashi replied smoothly. Mei could see he was worried but Naruto clearly didn't. The blonde seemed reassured. The Uzumaki nodded and then stepped off of the roof. Kurama's chakra enveloped Naruto so he only dropped a foot and then together, in the form of a hulking orange fox, they strode to the floating building. Once Naruto was on his way, Kakashi gave the order to have two squads of medics on standby.
Very carefully Naruto and Kurama herded the object away from the city. Every time they got within 100 yards of the building it scooted away. Kakashi frowned as he watched.
"Like magnets repelling each other," Shikamaru commented. Kakashi nodded but said nothing.
The ANBU returned with the manager from yesterday's seal development detail. The jonin was slack-jawed, staring at his workplace as Naruto floated it out of the village, over the wall, and into open country. Shikamaru ordered the evacuation cancelled while the Hokage turned to the seal engineer.
"Bill," Kakashi addressed him.
"Lord Hokage," Bill tore his eyes away from the jutsu development center. He didn't waste any time in answering the unasked question. "It has to be the defensive barrier seal we've been working on. If someone switched the last two symbols by mistake, the barrier would not just block physical and chakra attacks, it would repel them."
"I was afraid of that," Kakashi replied. "How many people are up there?"
"Ten, if no one called in sick," Bill replied, looking at the building with new meaning. His people were up there. He saw them every day, knew their families.
"And if someone deactivates the barrier?" Kakashi asked.
"The building would fall," the man allowed. "But I doubt they'll be able to."
"What do you mean?" Kakashi shot back.
"If it's what we were working on today, the barrier works both ways," he replied. "That's the new bug we're working out. Anyone inside the barrier was most likely forced to the center. If they could reach the seals, they would have deactivated them before this happened." He gestured at the floating building.
"If it works both ways and it repels physical objects, why didn't it crush the building inside?"
"And the other buildings in the neighborhood," Shikamaru chimed in, "they're completely untouched."
The man shook his head. "We've been tinkering with the design. We don't want the seals to flatten the trees and buildings inside the village every time we use it after all. Maybe this version only repels objects with chakra within the limits of the barrier? And the seal also seems to have expanded outside of the test zone, since they wouldn't have written the seals outside of our building. As far as the neighboring buildings, the seal doesn't repel objects immediately, it takes a minute. The building would have slowly been pushed away from the ground as the seals took effect."
Kakashi nodded, a little impatient, they could theorize about the new seal's quirks later. He gestured at the half dome of earth underneath the building. "I thought the barrier was only supposed to be a dome, not a sphere."
"That's the other bug we're working on," Bill admitted sheepishly. "We're configuring a lot of things at once." Then he froze and looked at his Hokage reverently. "How did you know it was supposed to be a dome?"
Kakashi blinked at the man, mildly confused for the first time that night. "It was in your report last month."
Bill grinned, a blush breaking out down to his neck. "You actually read my reports! Most people just sign off on them."
Mei stifled a smile for her friend's sake. By "most people" the jonin had to mean the Fifth Hokage. Tsunade was a heavy hitter and a healer, not an analyst. She would have, at best, skimmed a report about seal development. Kakashi wisely didn't comment on this. He cleared his throat and moved on.
"Do you have any suggestions?" Kakashi asked. "Now that Naruto's moved the facility away from the village, we can launch a rescue attempt." He left the rest unsaid. Depending on their strategy, the results could range from the building going into a free-fall to workers being trapped until they starved to death.
"I'm sorry, I do not. The barrier works perfectly in that aspect, once it's up, no outside force can penetrate it."
Shikamaru turned to look at Kakashi but the Hokage's attention was already elsewhere.
Mei saw Kakashi tilt his head the tiniest bit. She turned to follow his gaze. A man in a trench coat and sunglasses, despite the new moon, had just appeared at the top of the stairs. She heard Kakashi say, "we'll have to do our best to test that."
Bill stepped back as the clan head moved forward.
"Shibi, thank you for coming," Kakashi opened.
"My Hokage calls and I answer," Shibi replied respectfully. Then he turned his attention to the object that now floated over the countryside to the southeast of the village.
The clan head's insects were disciplined, none of them came near Mei or were even visible. She could feel them though, buzzing and fluttering. It was a little unsettling but also intriguing. There were so many unique clans in the Leaf.
Kakashi was about to ask a question when Naruto and Kurama bounded over. The orange representation of the tailed beast withdrew back into Naruto, sending the teen flying toward the roof. Naruto landed in a slide and straightened up. He was panting and still looked a little shaken.
"Okay sensei I got the building away from the village, what do we do next?"
"We need to devise a way to penetrate the barrier to release those inside. That's why I've asked Shibi to come." Kakashi gestured at the man standing beside him. Kakashi was going to ask his question but the look on Naruto's face stopped him.
"You look kind of familiar," Naruto blurted at the man.
Mei almost sighed on Kakashi's behalf. Not having the time or patience to let Naruto figure it out, the only obvious sign of his strain thus far, Kakashi said shortly, "he's Shino's father."
"Oh," Naruto's answer was drawn out and full of enlightenment. "Sorry I didn't recognize you."
"That's understandable," Shibi replied, "why? Because our clan prides itself on staying unnoticed in the background."
Naruto nodded. "Definitely Shino's Dad." Sai appeared at the top of the steps to the roof. Naruto gave him a subdued wave.
Shikamaru looked like he wanted to shout something at the blonde but held himself back. Kakashi was speaking again.
"Anyway," Kakashi continued. "Shibi, the barrier that surrounds the building is currently polarized to repel chakra and physical attacks. If we had something small and neutral like your insects, could they get through?"
"It will depend on the size of the physical attack that the barrier is designed to repel," Shibi replied thoughtfully.
"I don't really know," Bill chimed in from his place on the sidelines. "We weren't concerned with anything that small when we designed it. Air obviously still needs to be able to flow through the barrier, rain, those sorts of things. The barrier was intended to repel a possible tailed beast attack," he glanced nervously at Naruto but the blonde didn't take offense. The man continued, "or a large object falling from the sky."
"What's going to fall?" Naruto asked jokingly, "the moon?"
"Stranger things have happened," Kakashi replied lightly.
"Yeah right sensei," Naruto quipped, but the events of that night made the young man skittish. The whole crisis unsettled the hero. Naruto liked to do things to solve a problem but he wasn't sure what to do in this situation. Naruto glanced up, then around in an increasingly panicky manner. "Hey, hey where IS the moon?"
"It's a new moon, idiot." Sai whispered.
"What do you mean, what happened to the old one?!" Naruto demanded in a stage whisper.
Mei tuned out Sai's explanation of the lunar cycle so she could hear Kakashi strategize with Shibi. The clan head's scouting insects had been able to penetrate the barrier and return, so that was one question answered. Now it was on to the next step.
"Sai," Kakashi addressed him and the young man straightened. "How many birds can you make that could carry a clone each?"
Sai side-glanced at Naruto. "As many as the idiot here can make."
"That won't be necessary," Kakashi replied, talking over Naruto's indignant spluttering. "You're going to coordinate with Lord Aburame. You and Naruto are to pin the sphere in place as best you can, get it lower to the ground if possible. Go!"
Sai stepped to the side of the roof while Naruto made a small army of clones. Sai sketched off bird after bird and the clones lined up, hopping onto the next available ink bird until all but a handful were airborne. Sai's birds carried the clones to the building, surrounding it as closely as the barrier allowed. The ink bird/clone teams closed in like a net. The chakra from Naruto's clones forced the building down as low as it would go. It wasn't nearly low enough. Mei could see that the fall would still be deadly to those inside.
Even using her best earth technique, Mei wouldn't be able to get enough ground pushed up under the building to hold it. Earth style was tricky that way. She would not only have to move the earth she wanted but the earth around it to compensate. If she pulled a pillar of earth the size of a building that high into the air, there wouldn't be any ground left underneath to support the structure. She'd need to move double the earth and she wasn't even confident she had the chakra to do half that much.
The Hokage frowned at the floating building.
"Yamato?" Kakashi spoke. Everyone had gone quiet, watching their Hokage. Yamato appeared before anyone could question if Kakashi was asking them to fetch the man or not. "Could you catch that thing if it started to fall?"
Yamato's almond eyes narrowed at the floating building sitting on its wedge of earth. He shook his head in answer. "Earth style would be too slow to get into position. Wood style would be fast enough to get there, but not strong enough to take the weight before the building crumbled."
Kakashi nodded slightly, his gaze still fixed on the building. He raised his voice a little, "Itsuki, would you summon Choza please?"
Mei felt, rather than saw, the ANBU aide on duty depart. All eyes were on the floating building while the majority of the village dreamed on. In the silent moments that proceeded the clan head's arrival, Mei longed to approach her husband. She wanted to offer support and comfort, but she talked herself out of it. This was not the time. Although they all stood together, the Hokage stood alone.
Choza arrived and bowed, fully dressed in his armor. "Lord Hokage?" Despite addressing his leader, his eyes were drawn to the dark shape in the sky blotting out the stars to the southeast of them.
"Choza, thank you for coming." Kakashi was polite but his stance was commanding, his gaze penetrating. If she didn't know her husband so well, Mei would be a little afraid, his look was so intense. "You see our little problem. Could you catch it if it falls?"
Choza pondered the dark object. Naruto's clones and Sai's birds made a nearly three hundred sixty-degree halo around the floating object, showing how close he could get.
"Catch yes," the veteran answered, "cradle no. The structure will likely crumble in my hands. There are people inside?"
Kakashi nodded. "Yamato?" He asked again.
Yamato hadn't moved from Kakashi's side, he waited in silence.
Kakashi well knew the weight of what he was about to ask. But he couldn't ask. This was their best chance, it had to be an order. "I need you to use wood cocoons to shield the people inside."
Yamato looked like Kakashi had slapped him; his head swiveled to look at his senpai. The Hokage met his gaze. Yamato's mouth opened a little but no sound emerged. "I-" The technique would be just like the one used in the last war, the technique that had briefly enslaved the world. Yamato shook his head, face ashen.
Yamato had been forced to face, in the days after the war, the way his information, his weakness, had hurt his allies. Nearly everyone had been wrapped in wooden cocoons against their will, in cocoons that may as well have been created by him. And now Kakashi was asking Yamato to use that jutsu. He shook his head again.
"Senpai, I can't," Yamato whispered.
"If you have another idea, I'd love to hear it." When Yamato remained silent Kakashi continued, "the insects will destroy the barrier seal. Choza will catch the building but it won't hold together. We don't know if the people in there are in any condition to move or even shield themselves. I need someone to work with Choza, to protect them."
"I could just as easily crush them. If I miscalculate-"
"You won't," Kakashi assured him. "You are the surest part of this plan. You've never given me any reason to doubt you."
The men locked eyes for a moment. Yamato closed his eyes and nodded.
Mei watched as the encouraging senpai vanished and the Hokage took his place, like a door locked and bolted against the threats of the night.
"We only have one shot at this," the Hokage began. Kakashi spoke so calmly, it was as if he was bored with the problem rather than worried for the lives of his people trapped within the barrier. "I want the medical ninja just outside of Naruto's clone halo. Naruto and Sai will continue to hold the island in place as much as they're able. They will also be our marker for how close we can get without making the island shift. Lord Akamichi will enlarge and get into position just outside of the barrier's range. Yamato, you'll go with him and the two of you can coordinate your efforts." The two men nodded at each other. "Once you're all in position, Lord Aburame will send in his insects. If for any reason they're unable to take out the seals, then we'll regroup and come up with a new plan. At all times, prepare for the building to fall from the sky." Kakashi looked around at his ninja. "There are ten Leaf ninja up there and we depend on their seals every day to keep our village safe. It's our turn to keep them safe."
Mei was glad Guy wasn't there to cry manly tears. As it was, one of the clones Naruto had left behind gave a whoop and disappeared, relaying the plan to his original.
Choza and Yamato jumped to the ground and ran to the plains. Once they were close enough, the group on the roof of Hokage Tower watched as Choza enlarged his entire body. He was careful to stay outside of the ring Sai's birds with Naruto's clones were maintaining around the seal development facility. Yamato got into position, perched on Choza's wrist.
Shibi's insects were already in motion, black beetles against the black sky. The air was filled with their hum.
Kakashi stood tall, arms crossed, brow furrowed. Mei didn't approach him, she simply watched and waited. The group remaining at the Tower didn't have to wait long.
With no warning the floating island of earth lurched and began to fall. Sai's ink birds dove to the sides to avoid being crushed but not all got clear. Naruto's clones poofed and the ink splashed among the clouds of smoke. Mei held her breath.
Choza stepped forward into a lunge and tried to scoop the building out of the air. He caught it easily but the earth underneath the foundation was unstable in his fingers. The building's frame shuddered and strained in the clan leader's giant hands. A twist of wood style burst from Yamato, who looked like an ant standing precariously on Choza's wrist from that distance. The wood style shot into the building even as Choza bent his knees and then back. The enlarged man carefully lowered the building to the ground; it didn't make it. Before Choza could set the building on solid earth, the structure crumbled in his hands. He gently deposited the rubble on the ground. Yamato maintained his stance, his wood style extending unbroken into the mound of what was once a building. Everyone on the roof of Hokage Tower watched and dared to hope. Dust and dirt churned up from the collapsed building shielded what was left from view.
Sai frowned in concentration. Several of his birds had been destroyed but it was still a strain to control so many. He sent most of them toward Yamato while one headed back to him, the real Naruto riding on top.
Naruto jumped to the roof and the ink bird burst in an ebony splash. Sai maintained his hand sign, focusing on his remaining creations. Naruto joined the group that was staring at the dust cloud around the destroyed building. They saw a sudden white poof of smoke next to Yamato in the distance. Naruto frowned for a moment and said, "Captain Yamato thinks he got them all. He says you can send in the medics."
"I'm sure they're already on their way," Kakashi replied smoothly.
Sure enough, Mei could see several ninja sprinting to the scene. Meanwhile Choza shrunk to a more manageable size and starting shifting debris. The onlookers watched as the medics arrived. Several wind style techniques were used to clear the dust from the air. The building was now a heap of rubble. The medics swarmed over the remains like ants. A metal beam that had previously been supporting the seal experimentation building suddenly flipped end over end into a nearby field.
"That would be Sakura," Kakashi commented to Naruto. There was pride in his voice.
The blonde grinned in agreement and said, "Hinata's down there too." As if summoning her, there was a poof of smoke in the distance.
Mei wondered if it was more dust from the rubble but then Naruto's gaze grew far away again.
Naruto reported, "Hinata says there are ten life signs within the cocoons. It will take time to free them."
"How is Yamato?" Kakashi asked even though he knew it was one-way communication.
Naruto's brow furrowed in concentration, then his face cleared, pleased he'd dispelled the correct clone. It was a trick he'd been working on. "He looks alright. No worse than he did when he helped me train that time."
Kakashi nodded in answer but said nothing. That hadn't exactly been what he meant.
The Hokage glanced around, "good work everyone. I'm heading down there. Shikamaru, handle things here and reroute anyone who needs to find me." He nodded his thanks and then hopped to the ground, headed southeast. Now that there was no more delegating to be done, Kakashi could go where Mei knew he wanted to be, the scene of the action. Half of the group followed their Hokage while the other half remained behind to relay orders and field questions. Mei followed her husband outside the village walls.
When Kakashi, Mei, and the rest of the company arrived, the seal barrier ninja were being treated by the medics who'd arrived to dig them out. Sakura and Tsunade were up to their knees in debris.
"Everyone's dehydrated but in good shape for having a building fall on them," Tsunade reported.
Kakashi nodded, scanning the faces of the rescued seal barrier engineers. Seeing their upbeat and relieved looks, his gaze moved on to the scene at large. Ten wood cocoon husks were half buried in the center of the wreckage. "Where's Yamato?"
"He went that way sensei," Sakura called over the din. She gestured around half of a wall that was still standing.
Kakashi set off in that direction, picking his way through the broken stone, shattered glass, and split planks. Mei followed several feet behind. They found the man a moment later.
Yamato's face was still pale but his eyes had a spark of life in them. He was sitting on a large stone, facing Hokage Mountain. His shoulders tensed but then he rose to his feet as the pair approached. He turned to Kakashi.
"Lord Hokage, I-"
Kakashi cut him off with a hug. Yamato stood there, stunned for a few moments, his arms spread as if he wasn't sure what he was supposed to do with them. Then slowly he returned the embrace, his look of relief settling into something more peaceful.
"I knew I could count on you," Kakashi said evenly over the other man's shoulder.
Yamato smiled for what felt like the first time since the war. He swallowed a croak and replied, "thank you senpai."
000000
Adrenaline fueled them into the dim hours of the morning. Mei was struck by how in control Kakashi appeared, even to her scrutinous eyes. The whole incident was over and cleaned up by the time the sun rose. Kakashi sent earth style users to fill in the hole in the village and others to dismantle the building rubble. It was like nothing had happened.
Most of the villagers didn't know there'd been a crisis. Those who were in the evacuated neighborhoods knew something had occurred, but at the time they hadn't thought to look up into the night sky. Their Hokage and ninja had protected them and they didn't even know it.
Most kage work was like that, Mei mused. Regular people never even knew about many threats that had come so close to destroying their lives. That was a kage's job, in a way, thankless though it was. It didn't seem to bother Kakashi though. Mei supposed he was used to it. Doing work in the Leaf's best interest while in the shadows was what ANBU was about. People respected and feared the ANBU but, by design, what they actually did went unnoticed.
As the sun climbed into the sky, the light cast a fresh look to the rubble they'd been working in all night. Kakashi turned to his predecessor. "Why WAS the seal development facility placed in the middle of the village rather than somewhere more remote?"
Tsunade stared at Kakashi. "I don't know! It was a chaotic time during the rebuild. I just signed stuff."
Mei hid a smirk behind her bangs.
Kakashi ordered Shikamaru home and to bed about an hour after the survivors were transferred to the hospital. The ten survivors were unharmed and already discussing how to improve the barrier seal based on their experience. The hospital visit was just a formality before they, too, were released to go home.
By the time everything was taken care of, Kakashi's office hours should have begun for the day. He and Kiro exchanged a glance. The man had woken for his usual day shift as aide and was quickly briefed on what had transpired.
"You have no meetings until noon," Kiro informed his Hokage, "you can sleep until then. I'll send someone for you if anything needs your personal attention."
"Thank you," Kakashi sighed.
The man waved his Hokage off, the way he had so many times when they'd been in ANBU together.
"Hey Lady Mizukage," Kiro said before they wandered off, "knock knock."
"The door's open," Kakashi cut in before Mei's tired brain could wrap around the idea that Kiro was trying to tell a joke. Mei smiled; there went her husband, teasing again.
Kiro frowned. "No fair senpai. Lady Mizukage may not have heard this one."
"Goodnight Kiro," Mei called over her shoulder.
Mei and Kakashi walked back to the tower and up to their rooms in silence. Mei wasn't even sure Kakashi knew she was with him until he said, "thank you, Mei. Thank you for being there tonight."
"I didn't do anything," Mei replied quietly. It wasn't an argument, just a statement of fact. She'd felt rather useless just standing there, taking the whole situation in.
"But I'm thankful you were there anyway. It was a comfort, to me."
Mei nodded in understanding. She knew what it was like to be the one everyone turned to in a crisis. A kage had to be calm and decisive AND come up with a plan while everyone else either panicked or waited to be told what to do. It was stressful and terrifying and lonely.
The couple went back to Kakashi's room, where they had gone to bed the night before. "I think Yamato might do better now," Mei gave the statement a moment to breathe.
Kakashi released a long sigh. "If it had been anyone else, I think they would have murdered me for putting them through that," Kakashi replied. Both of their voices were subdued. Their mental fatigue outweighed the physical but Mei found that those tended to feed off of each other.
"Yamato would do anything you asked of him," Mei stated. They sat down on the bed, the sheets were still mussed.
"Only because he knows there are certain things I won't ask, until tonight." Kakashi rubbed his eyes. "I saw no other option."
Mei put her arm around his shoulders. It was not for her to say how Kakashi should direct his ninja, but she thought he'd made the right call. Yamato would forgive him, if he hadn't already.
They didn't make a conscious decision to go back to bed, didn't even change out of their clothes. After several minutes of silence they both laid down next to each other and let sleep take them.
Kakashi lay on his side, facing his friend turned wife turned lover. Mei was on her back with one arm stretched out toward Kakashi. The back of her hand rested on her husband's arm, just to make sure he was really there and not some beautiful dream. How natural and easy it was to lay there together, compared to a few months ago. They didn't even think about it, they just did.